Hurricane Alex Hinders Gulf Cleanup CrewsStrong winds from Hurricane Alex are whipping up waves in the Gulf of Mexico and sending more oil toward the shoreline. In Port Fourchon, La., crews say they recently finished cleaning up a beach only to have it dirtied again by more oil.

It had been more than two weeks since any oil had washed up on this beach in Port Fourchon, La. Crews had finished their work when the storm started moving their way.
Jeff Brady/NPR
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Jeff Brady/NPR

It had been more than two weeks since any oil had washed up on this beach in Port Fourchon, La. Crews had finished their work when the storm started moving their way.

Jeff Brady/NPR

Bad weather is causing problems for crews trying to clean up after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Choppy waters forced the Coast Guard to dock skimmers and other boats. That means more oil is reaching shores that were already mostly cleaned.

On the beach near Port Fourchon, La., on Tuesday, crews filled plastic bags with sand and rocks covered in reddish-brown oil. Workers only have to look out at the menacing waves to know why the crude is washing up now.

"The waves are 10 to 15 feet high when they break," said U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Cameron Cooper.

Cooper said normally the water is calm and waves are only a foot or so high, but the storm has changed everything. It had been more than two weeks since any oil had washed up on this beach. Crews were just finishing their work when the storm started moving their way.

"Unfortunately the timing of it wasn't ideal, because the oil was right at our doorstep when all these waves came," Cooper said. "Those two factors together make it a mess right now."

Nearby, Jerome Benjamin of New Orleans was slipping into a yellow hazardous material suit. He's among the temporary workers who were hired to clean up beaches. He said as quick as they clean up the oil, more comes. But he didn't consider that frustrating.